Gimme Shelter Housing Group, Churches Respond To Need

Think it's difficult to provide for a 4-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl?

Try to do it with a $420 welfare check and $227 in food stamps each month. That's what Harold Hill does.

But Hill does it with a little help from some friends -- some of whom he doesn't even know.

Hill lives rent-free in one of six apartments owned by the Bucks County Housing Group in Doylestown Township. And while the nonprofit organization provided the home, members of a New Hope church provided what's inside.

Through the housing group's Adopt-An-Apartment program, six Bucks County churches provide furniture, linens, curtains, appliances, kitchenware or whatever else is needed for the six apartments in the three-story, red brick shelter on Old Dublin Pike. The apartments are used for about three months at a time by people who have no homes and are making the transition -- with the housing group's help -- to self-sufficiency.

In Hill's case, he brought his own pots and pans and linens with him when he moved in to his one-bedroom apartment. What he needed was clothes.

"You wouldn't believe how fast they grow out of them," he said of his children.

Hill got "bags and bags" of them.

"Between Christmas and donations from the church, my children have more clothes than they need," he said. They even have clothes they can grow into.

The program that made that possible began about four years ago, according to Annalena Bromberg, who runs the Doylestown shelter.

"When I first started here, there were a lot of missing pieces," said Bromberg, who has worked for the housing group for about five years. "I thought the least we could do was provide a comfortable, homey feel. So I approached churches and asked if they are interested in helping."

When the churches signed on to the Adopt-An-Apartment program, they took an inventory of their assigned apartments for curtains, carpets, television sets, furniture, linens and the like. Then they provided what was missing.

Now, when a new family moves in to an apartment, the sponsor church finds out what needs to be replaced or what else the family might want, Bromberg said. That may be clothing, as it was in Hill's case.

"Some churches do meet the families," Bromberg said. "They introduce themselves and find out if there are any specific needs, like diapers or car seats."

During a family's stay, the family might contact the sponsor church if an additional need comes up. In addition, some of the churches keep in touch with the families in case they need something else.

That's what Joy Weatherill of Plumstead does. She helps coordinate her church's Adopt-an-Apartment effort. Her church is the Bux-Mont Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Warrington. It sponsors a three-bedroom apartment that is housing a Quakertown family right now, according to Bromberg.

"I meet with them when they move in and keep in contact with them," Weatherill said. "Sometimes I call every week, sometimes every couple weeks."

Then she goes back to her congregation with their requests.

While a family stays in the apartment, adult family members can use the time to find job training, learn budgeting and parenting skills, meet with employment and education counselors, get help with resumes and take their general equivalency diploma (GED) test if they haven't graduated from high school. Hill got his GED during his stay, which began in September. A cook by trade, he is now taking courses at Bucks County Community College to become a certified chef. He also is seeking work at a Lahaska restaurant.

During the past four months, Hill said, he's only seen a representative of his sponsor once. But she's been there.

"She'll bring stuff by when I'm not here," he said. "I had no alarm clock and she supplied it." The coffee maker, toaster, radio and other appliances already were there when he moved it.

Hill is planning on moving out within a month. Like many of the shelter's residents, he will move into a rent-subsidized apartment. He's hoping to furnish it with donated furniture housed now in a garage on the shelter property.

The Bux-Mont church helps the families that live in its apartment at the end of their stay.

"If they're going to an unfurnished apartment, we try to provide what they need," Weatherill said.

The program is a popular one at the church, according to the Rev. Libby Smith, its minister.

"What really excites people is they have the opportunity to follow the progress of a particular family," Smith said. "They watch them take a step toward becoming self-sufficient and moving into their own apartment."

That's what Weatherill likes about it.

"It's a short-term apartment situation," Weatherill said. "The people are there to get on their feet and get going so you see results quickly. That's nice."

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To offer help or donations to the program, call Annalena Bromberg or Debbie Delp at 345-4311.